Two men charged with breaching SHN rules

One man sneaked out of his hotel room to have a rendezvous with his fiancee, while another wandered around Geylang and also went to work.

The two men, who were supposed to be isolated and completing their stay-home notice (SHN), were charged separately yesterday morning for breaching the requirements.

Skea Nigel, 52, a Briton who was serving his SHN at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore in Marina Bay, left his room on the 14th storey without wearing a mask on three occasions on Sept 21 last year.

In the final breach, he climbed 13 floors through a stairwell at about 2.20am that day to meet his fiancee Agatha Maghesh Eyamalai, 39, whose room was on the 27th floor.

She was not serving SHN and had booked a different room in the same hotel. Eyamalai was also charged yesterday with abetting Nigel's breach of his SHN requirements.

When contacted by The Straits Times, the hotel would only say that it observes all government mandated regulations for hotel guests on SHN, and declined further comment on specific incidents, citing privacy reasons.

In the other case, Singaporean Abdul Rahman Mohamed Hanafiah, 71, took public transport, visited various public places and went back to work during his SHN, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said yesterday.

Abdul Rahman, who returned to Singapore from Batam on March 17, did not go to the address where he was supposed to serve his SHN.

Instead, he took a bus and wandered around Geylang Serai, and visited Haig Road and Joo Chiat Complex, before spending the night in a Bedok housing estate.

The next day, he went back to work as a security officer, and continued doing so until March 24. He had not informed his company or manager of his SHN requirement.

Depending on each individual's travel history, those flying into Singapore are required to serve SHN for either 14 or seven days, either at home or in government-mandated facilities.

Since last August, all those not in dedicated facilities have been given an electronic tag to ensure compliance with the stay-home rules.

The SHN was implemented on Feb 18 last year and became compulsory for all travellers entering Singapore from March 20.

Reminding the public to comply with SHN requirements to safeguard the community's health and safety, the ICA reiterated yesterday: "All travellers are to comply with the prevailing public health regulations and requirements in Singapore."

Those who fail to comply, including individuals who tamper with or remove the electronic monitoring device, or both, during the SHN period will be liable to prosecution.

Violators can be fined up to $10,000, jailed for six months, or both. Foreigners who breach the requirements may face further administrative action by the ICA or the Ministry of Manpower, and may have their permits and work passes cut short or revoked.